乞力马扎罗山 (Qǐ lì mǎ zhā luó shān) — Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest mountain in Africa, located in Tanzania)

Definition

noun
Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest mountain in Africa, located in Tanzania)
Measure word · 座

Examples

  • 乞力马扎罗山。
    Qǐ lì mǎ zhā luó shān Shì fēi zhōu zuì gāo de shān fēng.
    Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain peak in Africa.
  • 乞力马扎罗山。
    Měi nián dōu yǒu hěn duō yóu kè qù pá Qǐ lì mǎ zhā luó shān.
    Every year many tourists go to climb Kilimanjaro.
  • ，乞力马扎罗山。
    Yóu yú qì hòu biàn huà, Qǐ lì mǎ zhā luó shān de bīng chuān zhèng zài jiǎn shǎo.
    Due to climate change, the glaciers on Kilimanjaro are shrinking.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

乞力马扎罗Kilimanjaro
乞qǐ力lì马mǎ扎zhā罗luó
山shānmountain

乞力马扎罗 spells Kilimanjaro, and 山 means mountain, together naming the African peak.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 乞 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

力 is drawn as either an arm bending out from the side of the body or a wooden plough.

Open 力 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

Open 马 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
手手shǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
乙
乙yǐ扎zhā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

扎 is built from 手 (hand) and 乙, which gives the sound.

Open 扎 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 羅; 罗 is its simplified writing.

  • 网网wǎngnet
  • 維維wéibird (tied with string)

The traditional form 羅 combines 网 (net) with 維 (a bird tied with string) to show a net for catching birds; the simplified 罗 is a later abbreviation.

Open 罗 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

山 shows three mountain peaks side by side.

Open 山 →

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